Dear God, it's Friday, it's the home opener, we're playing the Yankees, and we are sitting at 0-6 for the season. I swear I can't think of many other ways to create so much tension! The life of a Sox fan is very finicky; one minute you can be the king (or queen) of the world, loudly proclaiming the merits of our home team, and the next minute it's all "blame this, blame that, this sucks", until the next inning where the cycle starts all over again! On a completely unrelated note, I had my first experience that made me feel like a true Boston resident. Deval Patrick came into my favorite breakfast spot this morning, and sat down to eat right there at the bar! Kinda cool that the Gov came down to Dorchester for some good eats...

I really just plan on watching the game today, so let's get something informational out there for you right now!

Mayor Menino passed a bill yesterday that will ban the sales of sugary drinks on all city property. This ban comes as part of Menino's push to eliminate sodas, energy drinks, and other unhealthy beverages from vending machines, vendor carts, and consession stands that are on city property. The movement started back in 2004, when the mayor banned the sales of sugary drinks in public schools in an effort to curb rising obesity rates in kids.

There are many people that aren't happy with this decision; mostly they are the people that sell these products over the summer, and pay large amounts of money to run their businesses; without the income from these drinks, many people stand to lose money from this decision. The terms of the bill dictate that the ban covers the sales of sodas, energy drinks, sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade, and some pre-sweetened iced teas. This would still allow for the sales of juice drinks, diet sodas, and lower calorie sports drinks.

I personally think that this is a great decision. Sodas and sugar-laden energy drinks aren't healthy, and there are many health issues that are linked to higher sugar intake. Too many kids are drinking these drinks, and the ridiculous amounts of sugar they take in adds to the skyrocketing epidemics of childhood obesity, attention deficit issues, and diabetics. Anyone that has cared to take the time to learn about how the youth obesity rates have exploded would have to be horrified by what they find. So many kids eat like crap and end up developing these issues that they literally had to rename "Adult-onset Diabetes" to "Type-II Diabetes." Let that sink in for a bit. A direct link stands between the overconsumption of sugar and Type II diabetes, which can lead to strokes, kidney failure, and heart attacks. So why in the hell do people need to drink these things that can be putting 12 tablespoons of sugar or more into their bodies at a time? I say thank you to Mayor Menino for making a move to clean up the city; not on the streets, but within ourselves.

And now that I've had my little rant, I'm posting pictures I took at Fenway, because I'm a fan. Most of you probably are on my side here :-)